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Copy-rt. on homename?

Hey- my family bought an old dwelling about a year ago ( in a pretty much rural locale that is about to 'boom' or be ruined by what preservation-minded people call "inappropriate infill".)

we haven't finished our (self-done) title search
but we're back as far as the 1850's +home has carried an estate "name" since that time

last year we became a state~landmk.

sadly- right after buying, a (very unpleasant)developer applied for and won the right to sub-div. a property directly adj. to our home.

the local govt officials who regularly make these decisions gave him the right to build around 15 new dwellings on 5 adj acres. even though the state and loc. dept/hist/resources suggested in support letters that this was inappropriate.
these dwellings will be built right up to within 15 feet of our property line, and because our footprint sits on 3 ac. like a postage stamp(in a corner), the new/buildings will be as close as 50' from the side of our home.

the question is- this man applied to build, giving his proj. one name on his applications (to put on his sign) and then (quietly- without any request of us) re-named his sub-div. prop. to include the actual name of our house- which as i said is now a state landmark- soon to go natl.

though ground has been broken and the adj. ac's nearly completely deforested, nothing has been builtyet.

Q: don't we have the rights to the moniker of our house?

(in gaining state status we checked the boxes for "do not publish" so our files and images of our structure are private- though in the state files.

imagine:
"monticello's-revenge", built right next to t.j.'s former digs.
(great name for a colonial taco stand :) have at it.

any help that is given is appreciated thoroughly.

Last edited by eastgoing; 01-09-2008 at 03:07 PM.
Reason: to promote clarity :)

Re: Copy-rt. on homename?

Sorry, but with out a registered copyright I'm afraid you have nothing to stand on. If you apply now he would be grandfathered in or the copyriight would be denied.
Just my humble opinion and I'm not a lawyer.
Jack

Be sure you live your life, because you are a long time dead.-Scottish Proverb

Re: Copy-rt. on homename?

Have you tried to talk to the builder about changing the name and that you are not happy with him using the name of your house? If you have and he blew you off you could check with a lawyer but it probably would not get you very far. If you get no satisfaction from the builder you could do everything in your power to make his job of building the houses as difficult as possible. Of course nothing illegal but make sure he is doing everything by the book and if not make sure the town officials are ridding him. The guy already sounds like he is kind of sleazy by not talking to you about the name of the development so he may be the type to try to cut corners. Good Luck